Sanitary napkin



R. P. HAYDEN sANlTARY NAPKIN June 14', 1938.

Filed April 12, 1937 mlm.

Why

6 /5 Faber? 2:3 H5 den NMMAM) y,Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,120,949 SANITARY NAPKIN Robert P. Hayden, New Brunswick, N. J., assignor to Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 12, 1937, Serial N0. v136,498

7 Claims.A Y (Cl. 12S-284) The invention relates more particularly to sanitary napkins of the looped end type, although it also has utility when embodied in sanitary napkins of the conventional type.

Sanitary napkins with looped ends long have been known and are known to have certain advantages but they have not gone into extensive use-because the types heretofore proposed are incapable of mass or machine production and for 10 various and sundry other reasons cannot successfully compete with napkins of the conventional type. It is the purpose of thisinvention to make them so in order to supply the constantly increasing demand. l

The'ach'levement of this purpose and the perfecting of the invention were resolved only after long experimentation and by the elimination of i a number of factors heretofore regarded as essential or as being practically insurmountable. Considered from the standpoint of cost of material and cost of manufacture, it was necessary to simplify the construction of thearticle so that it would embody only the essential components,

namely, the pad or filling and the gauze casing.l

There, likewise, were problems attendant from a commercial as well as service standpoint in that in order successfully to cope with the highly competitive market, the article should be of the throwaway and readily disposable type. This :lo required the elimination of sewing, stapling, and

the like expedients necessarily resorted to under the .old practice. And this greatly aggravated the problem from aA service point auf view because it was necessary to overcome conditions tending to roping or punching of the tabs and other sources of discomfort and vexation, particularly the hazard of the gaping or casual opening-up of the folded sides of the gauze with consequent loss or spilling of the filling.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention more readily will be understood from the following description of the preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is an elevational view of a sanitaryy of stress, due to the treatment of the ena tabs,

`range endwise of the napkin and prevent gaping or opening-up of the gauze casing folds and ensuing spilling of the. pad.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

The improved napkin, essentially speaking, is a two-component assembly comprising' a pad5 and a gauze casing 6. These elements, save in respect to the particulars of the improvements hereinafter stated, are or may be as usual, that is to say, the pad may be of the conventional readily disposable type and the casing or envelope may be a strip of gauze folded along longitudinal lines, as at 1, and having tabs or end extensions 8.

In the practice of the invention the tabs 8 are doubled back upon themselves, as at 9, on the longitudinally folded side of the gauze and secured in that wise in order to establish tubular hems or loops I0 whereby the napkin may bc secured to a belt either directly or through the intervention of conventional attaching devices.

This, as stated at the outset, is well known and usual so that, as premised, the essence of the present invention is the improved method Vand resulting structure whereby it is possible to manufacture and merchandise sanitary napkins of t e looped end type so that they successfully can compete with sanitary napkins ofthe conventional throwaway type. Hence, it is a merit of the invention that the looping or doubling of the tabs is so designed that it readily lends itself as a sequence in the machine or mass production of the napkins. For example, after the doubling operation the lapping portions of the gauze are relatively tied together by a cementing operation. The specic composition is unimportant in itself as long as it is quick drying, stable over long periods, moistureproof and flexible, There are a number of avails which meet such specilications such as, for example, latex, cellulose ester, phenolic resinoids, etc. Obviously, these are mentioned merely by Way of illustration and not as limitations. tion may be, although latex is preferred, it is applied by deposition, as at lI I, in longitudinally spaced intervals stopping short of the pad and, of course, of the tab ends in order to establish the tubular hems or loops l0. The relatively low thread count of the gauze simplifies the bonding operation which is not just a matter of cohesion or adhesion but is an actual interlocking of the goods by lam'entary process of the latex or other cemf` lting medium as will be clearly apparent upon inspection of Figs. 3 and 4. Nothwithstand- Whatever the cement composiing that the impregnant extends from surface to surface, it does not undesirably stiffen the tabs because the latex or equivalent bonding medium is inherently flexible; and, yet, it is a merit of the invention that the cementing areas constitute stays, reinforcing elements or stiffening ribs ranging longitudinally of the tabs and alternat.A

when the article is under tension, is that the stayed and puckered structure of the tabs sets uplines of stress, as ati3, ranging from end to end of the article and`which, in fact, are inau" gurated by and constitute continuations of the puckers. The merit of this ,isgthat't prevents gaping or opening-up of the longitudinal folds or lapped edges of the gauzel casing with possible escape of the pad. i

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:-

'l. Method of making throwaway sanitary napkins with looped ends, which consists in longitudinaliy folding a strip of gauze around a pad or filling thereby leaving end tabs, turning the tabs back on the longitudinally folded side. and securing them in that relation by a flexible adhesive bonding operation which defines lengthwise ranging spaced apart relatively stiff and limp areas in alternate order of arrangement inwardly of the loops for the purpose and with the result of' inhibiting roping tendency of the tabsand gaping of the gauze casing.

2. Method of making throwaway sanitary napkins with looped ends', which consists in longitudinally folding a strip of gauze to enclose a pad or filling and to form end tabs, doubling the tabs on the longitudinally folded side to provide v marginal loops, and securing them in that relation by lamentary process of latex along deflnitely spaced longitudinal lines limited to the areas between the loops and the pad.

3. Method of making throwaway sanitary napkins with looped ends which consists in longitudinally folding a strip of gauze to enclose a pad or filling and to form end tabs, forming end loops by doubling the tabs on the longitudinally folded side and securing them in that relation by spot cementing which defines relatively stiff and limp areas in alternate order of arrangement inwardly oi the loops and which in service set up denite lines of stress lengthwise of the gauze casing for the purpose and with the result of inhibiting gaping thereof and consequent escape of the pad.

4. Methodof forming sanitary napkins with looped end tabs which consists in doubling the tabs and bonding the lapping portions at spaced intervals inwardly of both the end margins to provide a tubular hemand stiffening ribs and potentially pucker'ed areas in alternate arrangeu ment substantially at right angles to the hem.

5. A sanitary napkin having end tabs doubled upon themselves, and spaced deposits of bonding composition to define end loops and longitudinal stiifening ribs and intermediate potentially puckered areas inwardly of the loops.

6. A sanitary napkin having end tabs doubled upon themselves and secured in that relation by an impregnant to define end loops and longitudinally spaced stays.

7. A sanitary napkin comprising a. pad and a strip of gauze folded longitudinally about the pad and having end tabs doubled upon themselves on the longitudinally folded vside to provide end loops, and transversely spaced apart deposits of a flexible bonding composition inwardly of the loops and serving to establish relatively stiff and limp panels calculated to prevent roping or bunching of the tabs and to set up lines of stress effective to prevent gaping of thel casing with consequent loss of the pad.

ROBERT P. HAYDEN. 

